In contrast to the 20th-century bosses of industry who ran America’s big cities, New York City seems poised to elect an unabashed socialist with dreams of government-run bodegas, rent freezes, and wealth redistribution. Rick Caruso, noted Los Angeles real estate developer and possible political candidate in 2026, joins GoodFellows regulars and Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and H.R. McMaster to discuss the future of America’s big cities—whether his other major cities will follow Gotham’s lead, plus how to bring needed change to municipalities notoriously averse to innovation (and in LA’s case, a city perhaps unprepared for the 2028 Summer Olympics).

The three fellows next reflect on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, now entering its 42nd month with no end in sight, then engage in a “lightning round” that touches on Harvard’s reported desire to create a Hoover Institution of its own; Hunter Biden’s skewed take on illegal immigration; the Epstein scandal’s effect on the MAGA movement; plus a “heated” debate over why Sir Niall and his countrymen choose to live without air conditioning.

Recorded on July 22, 2025.

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How does a promising young scholar go from dreams of designing glider planes to the study of physics and then on to a celebrated career as one of the world’s foremost monetary economists? In a “solo” installment of GoodFellows, John Cochrane—Hoover’s Rose-Marie and Jack Anderson senior fellow and coauthor of the newly released Crisis Cycle: Challenges, Evolution, and Future of the Euro—discusses his academic journey, his mentors, and the fellow economists who’ve inspired him along the way; his ongoing concerns with inflation and debt; plus his interest in penning a follow-up to Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose. Later, John takes part in a “Herbert Hoover Questionnaire,” in which he details proper airplane etiquette (if you occupy the window seat, raise the shade!), describes the virtues of his beloved family dog, and extols the culinary skills of his wife (author Elizabeth Fama, who makes a cameo appearance at the show’s end for the couple’s 39th wedding anniversary).

US forces launched bomb and missile strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, followed soon by an Iran-Israel ceasefire and the beginning of what could be a diplomatic realignment across the Middle East. The GoodFellows regulars and Hoover Senior Fellows Niall Ferguson, John Cochrane, and former White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster discuss the collateral impact of the Trump administration’s move against the Iranian regime. The fallout includes: a possible expansion of Abraham Accords participants (as the Gulf States help Iran pursue a more peaceful nuclear program); NATO members willing to invest more in military readiness; the media’s second-guessing the effectiveness and wisdom of the B2 sorties; plus what message Trump’s use of military might—as opposed to revolving-door diplomacy—sends to the world’s various mischief-making capitals (Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang).

Recorded on June 27, 2025.